C  7  ist'l 


1 AY- 


THE 
LAST   DAYS    OP   THE   MR   IN 
NORTH    CAROLINA. 


THE  LIBRARY  OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF 

NORTH  CAROLINA 


THE  COLLECTION  OF 
NORTH  CAROLINIANA 


Gp970.73 
V22L 


UNIVERSITY  OF  N.C.  AT  CHAPEL  HILL 


00032733436 

FOR  USE  ONLY  IN 
THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  COLLECTION 


THIS  ITEM  MAY  NOT  BE  COPIED 

cSthesbjf-service  COPIER. 


JJlLfe  Mo  fet.cN  wayny 


f  >UIV.>- >•> 


THE 


^ — t^i 

V  2  x  L 


Last  Days  of  the  War 


NORTH  CAROLINA. 


AN  ADDRESS 


Hon.  Z.  B.  VANCE, 


DELIVERED  FEB.  23, 1885, 


THIRD  ANNUAL  REUNION 


Association  of  the  Maryland  Line, 


ACADEMY  OF  MUSIC,  BALTIMORE. 


BALTIMORE : 

The  Sun  Book  and  Job  Printing  Office. 

1885. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2013 


http://archive.org/details/lastdaysofwarinnOOvanc 


THE  LAST  DAYS 

OF  THE 

War  in  North  Carolina. 

BY 

Hon.  Z.  B.  VANCE. 


The  committee  of  your  association  who  waited  upon  me, 
and  invited  me  to  deliver  an  address  upon  this  occasion, 
will  bear  me  witness  how  loth  I  was  to  undertake  the 
task.  The  very  numerous  and  urgent  engagements  which 
press  upon  a  member  of  Congress  in  the  closing  days  of 
its  session  are  such  as  to  positively  forbid  that  care  and 
accuracy  which  alone  make  the  value  of  any  historical 
address.  This  has  been  peculiarly  true  of  myself  from 
the  time  your  invitation  was  delivered.  Positively  I  have 
not  had  the  time  to  do  either  you  or  myself  justice;  but 
about  all  that  our  unfortunate  struggle  left  us  Confederates 
was  the  power  to  oblige  each  other.  You  insisted  upon 
my  coming,  and  here  I  am. 

For  the  want  of  opportunity  of  research,  I  have  chosen 
to  speak  to  you  about  the  closing  scenes  of  the  war,  the 
grand  culmination  of  which  happened  in  North  Carolina, 
for  the  reason  that  most  of  them  came  within  my  own 
personal  knowledge. 

Perhaps  no  portion  of  that  memorable  struggle  presents 
a  sadder  picture.  Indeed,  history  shows  nothing  whatever 
more  pathetic  than  the  closing  scenes  of  any  great  and 
unsuccessful  struggle,  the  death-throes  of  a  cause  which 
had  engaged  the  affections  and  inspired  the  hopes  of  a 
whole  people.  The  philosophic  student  can  see  in  such  a 
spectacle  also  many  important  lessons  in  politics  and  in 


the  study  of  human  nature.  The  gradual  decline  of  that 
enthusiasm  which  at  first  bore  that  cause  on  to  delusive 
victory,  sustained  it  at  flood-tide,  and  strove  fiercely  to 
.  maintain  it  against  the  ebb ;  the  diminished  confidence  of 
the  weaker  party,  the  abortive  effort  to  meet  superior  with 
inferior  means ;  that  noble  exaltation  of  the  heroic  spirit 
which  strives  to  overcome  fate  itself,  and  smiles  defiance 
at  misfortune ;  that  final  dying  away  of  hope  and  the  in- 
coming of  despair ;  the  demoralization  of  even  good  and 
brave  men ;  the  humiliation  of  heart-broken  women ;  the 
reckless  disregard  which  follows  when  all  law,  civil  and 
military,  is  withdrawn,  and  the  end  of  things  seems  to  be 
at  hand ;  all  these  exhibitions  of  the  nature  and  possible 
conditions  of  a  people  were  there,  for  the  wonder,  the  pity 
and  the  instruction  of  the  reflecting  mind.  In  kaleidos- 
copic array  each  phase  swept  across  the  stage,  as  storm- 
clouds  are  driven  across  the  sky,  culminating  in  that  moral 
darkness  of  men  ungoverned  by  law  or  motive,  and  women 
acting  without  hope.  All  these  things,  and  more,  I  wit- 
nessed among  my  own  people  in  those  unhappy  times ; 
from  the  day  when  the  first  company  of  volunteers  went 
forth  amid  the  plaudits  of  the  people,  as  to  a  festival, 
down  to  that  dark  hour  when  I  saw  the  last  regiment  of 
beardless  boys,  the  "  seed  corn  "  of  our  hopes,  pass  through 
the  unprotected  capital  of  our  State. 

To  the  new  generation,  or  even  to  cotemporaries  far 
removed,  the  recounting  of  these  scenes  may  excite  only 
the  ordinary  emotions  of  those  who  read  history.  To  us 
who  witnessed  and  participated  in  them,  the  bringing  of 
them  up  afresh  is  like  lifting  the  face-cloth  of  the  dead. 

There  is  one  feature  of  those  times  I  will  mention  as 
most  worthy  of  note  and  a  phase  creditable  to  our  nature. 
Although  war  does  excite,  and  with  us  did  excite  many 
evil  passions — for  it  is  both  excessive  law  and  absence  of 
law  and  license  to  violence — yet  this  barbaric  propensity, 
which  was  evolved  by  the  removal  of  all  restraint,  very  soon 
exhausted  itself,  and  the  people  waited  anxiously  for  the 
return  of  civil  authority,  as  benighted  men  watch  for  the 
dawn. 


From  April  to  October,  1865,  the  people  of  North  Caro- 
lina were  absolutely  without  law,  civil  or  military.  There 
was  not  a  judge  on  the  bench,  not  a  magistrate  or  sheriff, 
constable  or  any  kind  of  civil  servant  or  conservator  of  the 
peace  to  be  found  in  the  State  invested  with  legal  author- 
ity. A  complete  social  chaos  reigned ;  yet  profound  and 
perfect  peace  existed  throughout  our  borders.  The  instincts 
of  order  were  sublimely  present ;  and  never  did  any  por- 
tion of  the  great  race  to  which  we  belong  give  stronger 
proof  of  its  capacity  for  self-government  and  its  innate 
desire  for  civilization. 

When  the  year  1865  dawned  it  was  apparent  to  every  in- 
telligent observer  that  the  Southern  Confederacy  was 
doomed.  A  glimpse  of  the  situation  showed  that  Lee  was 
holding  Richmond  by  a  mere  skirmish  line,  in  twenty 
miles  of  trenches,  on  both  sides  of  the  James,  against  Grant 
with  an  army  of  180,000  men.  Wilmington  and  Charles- 
ton, our  only  available  seaports,  were  still  in  our  posses- 
sion, but  hastening  to  their  fall.  Sherman's  march  to  the 
sea  had  been  accomplished ;  Savannah  had  passed  into 
his  possession,  and  it  had  been  demonstrated  not  only  that 
the  Confederate  military  forces  of  the  Southwest  were  un- 
able to  stay  him,  but  that  no  hostility  was  to  be  expected 
from  the  despairing  people  whose  homes  he  ravaged.  With 
75,000  victorious  troops  he  was  preparing  for  his  home- 
stretch toward  Richmond,  driving  before  him  the  scattered 
detachments,  fragments  of  garrisons  of  cities  and  towns, 
abandoned  on  his  approach,  and  other  portions  of  the  Con- 
federate forces,  amounting  to  not  more  than  22,000  men  of 
all  arms. 

In  addition  to  this  almost  hopeless  condition  of  things 
on  the  theatre  of  the  main  armies  the  interior  and  rear 
were  harrassed  and  overrun  by  strong  bodies  of  the  enemy's 
cavalry,  who  burned  and  plundered  in  defenceless  sections 
to  their  hearts' content.  Nowhere  was  there  a  gleam  of 
hope ;  nowhere  had  there  come  to  us  any  inspiriting  suc- 
cess. Everything  spoke  of  misfortune  and  failure.  The 
political  situation  of  course  sympathized  with  the  mili- 


6 

tary.  The  people  were  utterly  without  hope,  and  what 
they  did  towards  supporting  the  struggle  was  perfunctory 
or  from  a  strong  sense  of  good  faith  and  honor.  The  chief 
motive  of  the  more  intelligent  was  the  knowledge  that 
energetic  action  could  at  least  help  us  to  secure  "better 
terms  and  avert  the  evils  which  a  premature  and  cowardly 
giving  up  would  be  sure  to  bring  upon  us.  This  was 
emphatically  the  feeling  in  North  Carolina  as  we  waited 
for  the  final  movement  of  Sherman  towards  our  borders. 

On  the  1st  day  of  February,  1865,  that  movement  began. 
With  irresitible  force  his  columns  began  their  march 
through  the  southern  regions  of  South  Carolina  towards 
Columbia,  and  apparently  Charlotte,  North  Carolina,  and 
so  on  into  Virginia  along  the  track  of  Sherman's  last  great 
predecessor,  Lord  Cornwallis,  in  1781.  But  whether  it  was 
that  he  feared  the  winter  mud  of  the  North  Carolina  hill 
country,  or  that  he  did  not  care  to  trust  himself  to  such 
combinations  of  the  Confederates  as  might  cross  his  path 
sd  far  in  the  interior,  he  left  Lord  Cornwallis'  track  near 
Winnsboro',  South  Carolina,  and  turning  to  the  right  made 
for  Fayetteville,  crossing  the  Catawba  and  the  Great 
Peedee.  His  army  marched  in  two  great  divisions,  near  a 
day's  march  apart,  thus  covering  and  devastating  a  wide 
expanse  of  country.  With  reference  to  this  famous  and 
infamous  march,  I  wish  to  say  that  I  hope  I  am  too  much 
of  a  man  to  complain  of  the  natural  and  inevitable  hard- 
ships, or  even  cruelties  of  war;  but  of  the  manner  in 
which  this  army  treated  the  peaceful  and  defenceless  in- 
habitants in  the  reach  of  its  columns  all  civilization  should 
complain.  There  are  always  stragglers  and  desperadoes 
following  in  the  wake  of  an  army  who  do  some  damage  to 
and  inflict  some  outrages  upon  helpless  citizens  in  spite  of 
all  the  efforts  of  commanding  officers  to  restrain  and 
punish;  but  when  a  general  organizes  a  corps  of  thieves 
and  plunderers  as  a  part  of  his  invading  army,  and  licenses 
beforehand  their  outrages,  he  and  all  who  countenance,  aid 
or  abet,  invite  the  execration  of  mankind.  This  peculiar 
arm  of  the  military  service,  it  is  charged  and  believed,  was 


instituted  by  General  Sherman  in  his  invasion  of  the 
Southern  States.  Certain  it  is  that  the  operations  of  his 
"  Bummer  Corps  "  were  as  regular  and  as  unrebuked,  if  not 
as  much  commended  for  efficiency,  as  any  other  division  of 
his  army,  and  their  atrocities  are  often  justified  or  excused 
on  the  ground  that  "  such  is  war." 

In  his  own  official  report  of  his  operations  in  Georgia  he 
says  :  "  We  consumed  the  corn  and  fodder  in  the  region  of 
country  thirty  miles  on  either  side  of  a  line  from  Atlanta 
to  Savannah ;  also  the  sweet  potatoes,  hogs,  sheep  and 
poultry,  and  carried  off  more  than  ten  thousand  horses  and 
mules.  I  estimate  the  damage  done  to  the  State  of  Georgia 
at  one  hundred  million  dollars,  at  least  twenty  million  of 
which  inured  to  our  benefit,  and  the  remainder  was  simply 
waste  and  destruction ! "  The  same  chivalric  course  of 
warfare  was  continued,  only  worse,  through  South  and 
North  Carolina.  The  "remainder"  delicately  alluded  to 
— that  is  to  say,  the  damage  done  to  the  unresisting  inhabi- 
tants over  and  above  the  seizing  of  necessary  army  supplies 
consisted  in  private  houses  burned,  stock  shot  down  and 
left  to  rot,  bed  clothes,  money,  watches,  spoons,  plate  and 
ladies'  jewelry  stolen,  &c,  &c.  A  lane  of  desolation  sixty 
miles  wide  through  the  heart  of  three  great  States,  marked 
by  more  burnings  and  destruction  than  ever  followed  in  the 
wake  of  the  wildest  cyclone  that  ever  laid  forest  low ! 
And  all  done  not  to  support  an  invading  army,  but  for 
"pure  waste  and  destruction;"  to  punish  the  crime  of 
rebellion,  not  in  the  persons  of  those  who  had  brought 
these  things  about,  but  of  the  peaceful  non-combatants, 
the  tillers  of  the  soil,  the  women  and  children,  the  aged 
and  feeble  and  the  poor  slaves !  A  silver  spoon  was  evi- 
dence of  disloyalty,  a  ring  on  a  lady's  finger  was  sure  proof 
of  sympathy  with  rebellion,  whilst  a  gold  watch  was  prima 
facia  evidence  of  most  damnable  guilt  on  the  part  of 
the  wearer.  These  obnoxious  ear-marks  of  treason  must 
be  seized  and  confiscated  for  private  use — for  such  is  war ! 

As  proof  that  these  things  met  the  approbation  of  the 
officers  of  that  army,  hundreds  of  instances  can  be  cited, 


8 

where  the  depredations  were  committed  in  full  view  of  the 
officers  Many  can  be  shown  where  they  participated  in 
the  plunder;  and  no  where  has  any  case  come  under  my 
observation  or  within  my  knowledge,  in  which  the  perpe- 
trators were  even  rebuked — much  less  punished.  In  vain 
did  the  terrified  people  secrete  their  valuables  upon  the 
approach  of  Sherman's  army ;  with  infernal  skill  this  corps 
of  bummers  maintained  their  high  reputation  as  the  most 
expert  thieves  on  earth ;  by  ransacking  every  conceivable 
place  of  concealment,  penetrating  every  suspicious  spot  of 
earth  with  their  ramrods  and  bayonets,  searching  every 
cellar,  out  house,  nook  and  cranny. 

If  these  failed,  and  they  sometimes  did,  torture  of  the 
inhabitants  was  freely  employed  to  force  disclosure. 
Sometimes,  with  noble  rage  at  their  disappointment,  the 
victims  were  left  dead,  as  a  warning  to  all  others  who 
should  dare  hide  a  jewel  or  a  family  trinket  from  the 
cupidity  of  a  "Soldier  of  the  Union."  No  doubt  the  stern 
necessity  for  such  things  caused  great  pain  to  those  who 
inflicted  them,  but  the  Union  must  be  restored,  and  how 
could  that  be  done  whilst  a  felonious  gold  watch  or  a  treas- 
onable spoon  was  suffered  to  remain  in  the  land,  giving  aid 
and  comfort  to  rebellion?  For  such  is  War  !  Are  such  things 
war,  indeed  ?   Let  us  see  : 

Eighty-four  years  before  that  time,  there  was  a  war  in 
that  same  country ;  it  was  a  rebellion,  too,  and  an  English 
nobleman  led  the  troops  of  Great  Britain  through  that  same 
region,  over  much  of  the  same  route,  in  his  efforts  to  sub- 
due that  rebellion.  The  people  through  whose  land  he 
marched  were  bitterly  hostile ;  they  shot  his  foraging 
parties,  his  sentinels  and  stragglers ;  they  fired  upon  him 
from  every  wood. 

He  and  his  troops  had  every  motive  to  hate  and  to  pun- 
ish those  rebellious  and  hostile  people.  It  so  happens  that 
the  original  order-book  of  Lord  Cornwallis  is  in  possession 
ef  the  North  Carolina  Historical  Society.  I  have  seen  and 
read  it.  Let  us  make  a  few  extracts,  and  see  what  he  con- 
sidered war,  and  what  he  thought  to  be  the  duty  of  a  civil- 
ized soldier  towards  non-combattants  and  the  helpless. 


"Camp  near  Beatty's  Ford," 

January  28th,  1781. 

"Lord  Cornwallis  has  so  often  experienced  the  zeal  and 
good  will  of  the  army,  that  he  has  not  the  smallest  doubt 
that  the  officers  and  soldiers  will  most  cheerfully  submit 
to  the  ill  conveniences  that  must  naturally  attend  war,  so 
remote  from  water-carriage  and  the  magazines  of  the  army. 
The  supply  of  rum  for  a  time  will  be  absolutely  impossi- 
ble and  that  of  meal  very  uncertain.  It  is  needless  to 
XDoint  out  to  the  officers  the  necessity  of  preserving  the 
strictest  discipline,  and  of  preventing  the  oppressed  people 
from  suffering  violence  by  the  hands  from  whom  they  are 
taught  to  look  for  protection  !  " 

Now  General  Sherman  was  fighting,  as  he  said,  for  the 
sole  purpose  of  restoring  the  Union,  and  for  making  the 
people  of  the  rebellious  States  look  to  the  Union  alone  for 
protection;  does  any  act  or  order  of  his  anywhere  indicate 
a  similar  desire  of  protecting  the  people  from  suffering  at 
the  hands  of  those  whose  duty  it  was  to  protect  them  ? 

Again — 

"  Headquarters,  Cansler's  Plantation," 

February  2d,  1781. 

"Lord  Cornwaliisis  highly  displeased  that  several  houses 
have  been  set  on  fire  to-day  during  the  march — a  disgrace 
to  the  army — and  he  will  punish  with  the  utmost  severity 
any  person  or  persons  who  shall  be  found  guilty  of  com- 
mitting so  disgraceful  an  outrage.  His  Lordship  requests 
the  commanding  officers  of  the  corps  will  endeavor  to  find 
the  persons  set  fire  to  the  houses  this  day."  Now  think  of 
the  march  of  Sherman's  army,  which  could  be  discovered 
a  geat  way  off  by  the  smoke  of  burning  homesteads  by  day 
and  the  lurid  glare  of  flames  by  night,  from  Atlanta  to 
Savannah,  from  Columbia  to  Fayetteville,  and  suppose  that 
such  an  order  as  this  had  been  issued  by  its  commanding 
officer  and  rigidly  executed,  would  not  the  mortality  have 
been  quite  equal  to  that  of  a  great  battle  ? 

Arriving  in  Fayetteville  on  the  10th  of  January,  1865,  he 
not  only  burned  the  Arsenal  one  of  the  finest  in  the  United 


10 

States,  winch,  perhaps  lie  might  have  properly  done,  but  he 
also  burned  five  private  dwelling-houses  nearby,  he  burned 
the  principal  printing  office,  that  of  the  old  "  Fayetteville 
Observer,"  he  burned  the  old  Bank  of  North  Carolina,  eleven 
large  warehouses,  five  cotton  mills  and  quite  a  number  of 
private  dwellings  in  other  parts  of  the  town,  whilst  in  the 
suburbs  almost  a  clean  sweep  was  made ;  in  one  locality 
nine  houses  were  burned.  Universally,  houses  were  gutted 
before  they  were  burned;  and  after  everything  portable 
was  secured  the  furniture  was  ruthlessly  destroyed — pianos, 
on  which  perhaps  rebel  tunes  had  been  played — "  Dixie  "  or 
"  My  Maryland  " — disloyal  bureaus,  traitorous  tables  and 
chairs  were  cut  to  pieces  with  axes ;  and  frequently,  after 
all  this  damage  fire  was  applied,  and  all  consumed.  Car- 
riages and  vehicles  of  all  kinds  were  wantonly  destroyed  or 
burned ;  instances  could  be  given  of  old  men  who  had  the 
shoes  taken  from  their  feet,  the  hats  from  their  heads  and 
clothes  from  their  persons,  their  wives  and  children  sub- 
jected to  like  treatment.  In  one  instance  as  the  maranders 
left  they  shot  down  a  dozen  cattle  belonging  to  an  old  man, 
and  left  their  carcasses  lying  in  the  yard.  Think  of  that, 
and  then  remember  the  grievance  of  the  Pennsylvania 
Dutch  farmers  who  came  in  all  seriousness  to  complain  to 
General  Longstreet,  in  the  Gettysburg  campaign,  of  the 
outrage  which  some  of  his  ferocious  rebels  had  committed 
upon  them,  by  milking  tlieir  cows  !  On  one  occasion,  at 
Fayetteville,  four  gentlemen  were  hung  up  by  the  neck 
until  nearly  dead  to  force  them  to  disclose  where  their  val- 
uables were  hidden,  and  one  of  them  was  shot  to  death. 

Again — 

"  Headquartees,  Dobbins  House, 

February  17, 1781. 
"  Lord  Cornwallis  is  very  sorry  to  be  obliged  to  call  the 
attention  of  the  officers  of  the  army  to  the  repeated  orders 
against  plundering,  and  he  assures  the  officers  that  if  their 
duty  to  their  King  and  country,  and  their  feeling  for 
humanity  are  not  sufficient  to  force  their  obedience  to  them, 
he  must,  however,  reluctantly  make  use  of  such  powers  as 


11 

the  military  laws  have  placed  in  his  hands  *  *  *•  *  It 
is  expected  that  Captains  will  exert  themselves  to  keep 
good  order  and  prevent  plundering  *  *  *  *  Any 
officer  who  looks  on  with  indifference  and  does  not  do  Ms 
utmost  to  prevent  shameful  marauding  toill  be  considered 
in  a  more  criminal  light  than  the  persons  who  commit 
these  scandalous  crimes,  which  must  bring  disgrace  and 
ruin  on  his  Majesty's  service.  All  foraging  parties  will 
give  receipts  for  the  supplies  taken  by  them." 

Xow,  taking  it  for  granted  that  Lord  Cornwallis,  a  dis- 
tinguished soldier  and  a  gentleman,  is  an  authority  on  the 
rights  of  war;  could  there  be  found  anywhere  a  more  dam- 
natory comment  upon  the  practices  of  General  Sherman 
and  his  army  ? 

Again — 

"  Headquarters,  Freelands, 

February  28,  1781. 
Memorandum : 

A  watch  found  by  the  regiment  of  Bose.  The  owner 
may  have  it  from  the  Adjutant  of  that  regiment  upon 
proving  property." 

Another — 

"  Smith's  Plantation, 

March  1,  1781. 
Brigade  Orders. 

*  *  *  *  A  woman  having  been  robbed  of  a  watch,  a 
black  silk  handkerchief,  a  gallon  of  peach  brandy  and  a 
shirt,  and  as  by  the  description,  by  a  soldier  of  the  guards, 
the  camp  and  every  man's  kit  is  to  be  immediately 
searched  for  the  same,  by  the  officer  of  the  Brigade." 

Are  there  any  poets  in  the  audience,  or  other  persons  in 
whom  the  imaginative  faculty  has  been  largely  cultivated? 
If  so,  let  me  beg  him  to  do  me  the  favor  of  conceiving,  if 
he  can,  and  make  manifest  to  me,  the  idea  of  a  notice  of  a 
lost  watch  being  given,  in  general  orders,  by  Wm.  Tecum- 
seh  Sherman,  and  the  offer  to  return  it  on  proof  of  property 
by  the  rebel  owner!      Let   him  imagine,  if  he  can,  the 


12 

searching  of  every  man's  kit  in  that  army,  for  a  stolen 
watch,  a  shirt,  a  black  silk  handkerchief  and  a  gallon  of 
peach  brandy — because  "  such  is  war." 

Time  and  your  patience  forbids  that  I  should  further 
quote  from  this  interesting  record  of  the  war  of  1781. 
Suffice  it  to  say  that  the  whole  policy  and  conduct  of 
that  British  commander  was  such  as  to  indicate  unmis- 
takably that  he  did  not  consider  the  burning  of  private 
houses,  the  stealing  of  private  property,  and  the  outraging 
of  helpless,  private  citizens  as  War,  but  as  robbery  and 
arson.  I  venture  to  say  that  up  to  the  period  when  that 
great  march  taught  us  the  contrary,  no  humane  general  or 
civilized  people  in  Christendom  believed  that  "such  was 
war"  Has  civilization  gone  backward  since  Lord  Corn- 
wallis'  day  ?  Have  arson  and  vulgar  theft  been  ennobled 
into  heroic  virtues  ?  If  so,  when  and  by  whom  ?  Has  the 
art  of  discovering  a  poor  man's  hidden  treasure  by  fraud 
or  torture  been  elevated  into  the  strategy  which  wins  a 
campaign  ?     If  so,  when,  and  by  whom  ? 

No,  sir,  it  will  not  do  to  slur  over  these  things  by  a  vague 
reference  to  the  inevitable  cruelties  of  war.  The  time  is 
fast  coming  when  the  conduct  of  that  campaign  will  be 
looked  upon  in  the  light  of  real  humanity  and  investigated 
with  the  real  historic  spirit  which  evolves  truth ;  and  all 
the  partisan  songs  which  have  been  sung,  or  orations  which 
subservient  orators  have  spoken,  about  that  great  march  to 
the  sea ;  and  all  the  caricatures  of  Southern  leaders  which 
the  bitterness  of  a  diseased  sectional  sentiment  has  inspired ; 
and  all  the  glamour  of  a  great  success,  shall  not  avail  to 
restrain  the  inexorable,  the  illuminating  pen  of  history. 
Truth  like  charity  never  faileth.  Whether  there  be  pro- 
phecies they  shall  fail;  whether  there  be  tongues  they 
shall  cease;  whether  there  be  knowledge  it  shall  vanish 
away ;  but  when  the  truth  which  is  perfect  has  come,  then 
that  which  is  in  part  shall  be  done  away. 

Now  let  us  contrast  General  Sherman  with  his  greatest 
foe,  likewise  the  greatest,  certainly  the  most  humane 
general  of  modern  times,  and  see  whether  he  regarded  the 


18 

pitiless  destruction  of  the  substance  of  women  and  children 
and  inoffensive  inhabitants  as  legitimate  war. 

"Headquarters  Army  Northern  Virginia, 

June  27,  1863. 
"General  Order  No.  73. 

"The  Commanding  General  has  observed  with  marked 
satisfaction  the  conduct  of  the  troops  on  the  march.  There 
have,  however,  been  instances  of  forgetfulness  on  the  part 
of  some  that  they  have  in  keeping  the  yet  unsullied  repu- 
tation of  this  Army,  and  that  the  duties  exacted  of  us  by 
civilization  and  Christianity  are  not  less  obligatory  in  the 
country  of  the  enemy  than  our  own.  The  Commanding 
General  considers  that  no  greater  disgrace  could  befall  the 
Army,  and  through  it  our  whole  people,  than  the  perpetra- 
tion of  barbarous  outrages  upon  the  unarmed  and  defence- 
less, and  the  wanton  destruction  of  private  property,  that 
have  marked  the  course  of  the  enemy  in  our  own  country. 
*  *  *  *  It  will  be  remembered  that  we  make  war  only 
upon  armed  men. 

<<  R.  E.  LEE,  General." 

The  humanity  and  Christian  spirit  of  this  order  was  such 
as  to  challenge  the  admiration  of  foreign  nations.  The 
"London  Times"  commented  upon  it,  and  its  American 
correspondent  said :  "  The  greatest  surprise  has  been  ex- 
pressed to  me  by  officers  from  the  Austrian,  Prussian  and 
English  armies,  each  of  which  has  representatives  here, 
that  volunteer  troops,  provoked  by  nearly  twenty-seven 
months  of  unparalleled  ruthlessness  and  wantonness,  of 
which  their  country  has  been  the  scene,  should  be  under 
such  control,  and  willing  to  act  in  harmony  with  the  long- 
suffering  and  forbearance  of  President  Davis  and  General 
Lee." 

To  show  how  this  order  was  executed,  the  same  writer 
tells  a  story  of  how  he  witnessed  with  his  own  eyes  General 
Lee  and  a  surgeon  of  his  command  repairing  the  damage  to 
a  farmer's  fence.  Col.  McClure,  of  Philadelphia,  a  Union 
soldier  himself,  bears  witness  to  the  good  conduct  of  Lee's 


14 

tagged,  rebels  in  that  famous  campaign.  He  tells  of  hun- 
dreds of  them  coming  to  him  and  asking  for  a  little  bread 
and  coffee,  and  of  others  who  were  wet  and  shivering  "ask- 
ing permission"  to  enter  a  house  in  which  they  saw  a  bright 
fire,  to  warm  themselves  until  their  coffee  should  be  ready. 

Hundreds  of  similar  instances  could  be  given,  substanti- 
ated by  the  testimony  of  men  on  both  sides,  to  show  the 
splendid  humanity  of  that  great  invasion.  Blessed  be  the 
good  God,  who,  if  in  His  wisdom,  He  denied  us  success,  yet 
gave  to  us  and  our  childien  the  rich  inheritance  of  this 
great  example. 

Now,  there  is  Lee's  order  on  entering  Pennsylvania,  and 
there  are  the  proofs  referred  to  of  the  good  faith  with 
which  that  order  was  executed.  Was  any  such  humane 
order  issued  by  General  Sherman  when  he  began  his  march 
through  Georgia,  South  and  North  Carolina  ?  If  so,  let  the 
numberless  and  atrocious  outrages  which  characterized  his 
every  step  speak  as  to  the  mala  fides  with  which  it  was 
executed.  Let  a  few  other  things  also  speak.  Major 
General  Halleck,  then,  I  believe,  commander-in-chief, 
under  the  President,  of  the  armies  of  the  Union,  on  the 
18th  of  December,  1864,  dispatched  as  follows  to  General 
Sherman,  then  in  Savannah  :  "  Should  you  capture  Charles- 
ton, I  hope  that  by  some  accident  the  place  may  be 
destroyed;  and  if  a  little  salt  should  be  sown  upon  its  site 
it  may  prevent  the  growth  of  future  crops  of  nullification 
and  secession."  On  the  24th  of  December,  1864,  General 
Sherman  made  the  following  answer :  "  I  will  bear  in  mind 
your  hint  as  to  Charleston,  and  don't  think  '  salt '  will  be 
necessary.  When  I  move  the  15th  Corps  will  be  on  the 
right  of  the  right  wing,  and  their  position  will  bring  them 
naturally  into  Charleston  first,  and  if  you  have  watched 
the  history  of  that  corps  you  will  have  remarked  that  they 
generally  do  their  work  up  pretty  well.  The  truth  is,  the 
whole  army  is  burning  with  an  insatiable  desire  to  wreak 
vengeance  upon  South  Carolina.  I  almost  tremble  at  her 
fate,  but  feel  that  she  deserves  all  that  seems  in  store  for 
her.     *     *     *     I  look  upon  Columbia  as  quite  as  bad  as 


15 

Charleston !  "  Therefore  Columbia  was  burned  to  ashes. 
And  though  he  knew  what  was  in  store  for  South  Carolina,  so 
horrible  that  even  he  trembled,  he  took  no  steps  to  avert  it. 
for  he  felt  that  she  deserved  it  all.  Did  she,  indeed  ?  What 
crime  had  she  committed  that  placed  her  outside  the  pro- 
tection of  the  law  of  civilized  nations  ?  What  unjust  and 
barbarous  or  brutal  conduct  had  she  been  guilty  of  to  bring 
her  within  the  exceptions  laid  down  by  the  writers  on 
the  laws  of  war  as  authorizing  extraordinary  severity 
of  punishment?  They*  are  not  even  imputed  to  her. 
South  Carolina's  crime  and  the  crime  of  all  the  seceding 
States  was  that  of  a  construction  of  the  constitution  of  the 
United  States  differing  from  that  of  General  Sherman  and 
the  15th  Corps — which  "always  did  up  its  work  pretty 
welt" 

Happily,  the  Divine  Goodness  has  made  the  powers  of 
recuperation  even  superior  to  those  of  destruction ;  and 
though  their  overthrow  was  so  complete  that  '-salt"  was 
not  needed  as  the  type  of  utter  desolation,  yet  Marietta 
and  Atlanta  are  thriving  and  prosperous  cities ;  and  Col- 
umbia has  once  more  resumed  her  poetic  name — the  city  of 
roses  ;  and  but  recently  I  read,  with  satisfaction,  that  the 
good  old  town  of  Fayetteville  is  fast  rebuilding  her  fac- 
tories, and  boasts  of  having  but  lately  recovered  much  of 
her  ancient  trade. 

I  mean  further  to  contrast  this  march  to  the  sea  with 
the  opinions  of  the  great  American  writer  on  international 
law,  Chancellor  Kent.  Treating  of  plunder  on  land  and 
depredations  on  private  property.  He  says :  (part  1,  Sec.  5,) 
"  Such  conduct  has  been  condemned  in  all  ages,  by  the  wise 
and  the  virtuous,  and  it  is  usually  punished  severely  by 
those  commanders  of  disciplined  troops  who  have  studied 
war  as  a  science,  and  are  animated  by  a  sense  of  duty  or 
love  of  fame.  *  *  , .*  *  If  the  conqueror  goes  beyond 
these  limits  wantonly,  or  when  it  is  not  clearly  indispen- 
sable to  the  just  purposes  of  war,  and  seizes  private  prop- 
erty of  pacific  persons  for  the  sake  of  gain,  and  destroys 
private  dwellings  or  public  edifices  devoted  to  civil  pur- 


16 

poses  only;  or  makes  war  upon  monuments  of  art  and 
models  of  taste,  lie  violates  the  modern  usages  of  war,  and 
is  sure  to  meet  with  indignant  resentment,  and  to  be  held 
up  to  the  general  scorn  and  detestation  of  the  world."  If 
Kent,  although  studied  "by  General  Sherman  at  West  Point, 
he  not  a  sufficient  authority  for  his  condemnation,  let  Us 
try  him  by  the  opinion  of  Major-General  Halleck — the 
"salt "  suggester  above  referred  to,  and  see  what  he  says  in 
his  cooler  moments  concerning  the  rights  of  unarmed  in- 
habitants during  war. 

In  his  International  Law  and  Laws  of  War,  published  in 
1861,  treating  of  the  ancient  practice  which  made  all 
private  property  of  the  enemy  subject  to  confiscation,  he 
says  :  "  But  the  modern  usage  is  not  to  touch  private  prop- 
erty on  land  without  making  compensation,  except  in 
certain  specified  cases.  These  exceptions  may  be  stated 
under  three  general  heads  :  first,  confiscations  or  seizures  by 
way  of  penalty  for  military  offenses ;  second,  forced  contri- 
butions for  the  support  of  the  invading  army,  or  as  an 
indemnity  for  the  expenses  of  maintaining  order  and  afford- 
ing protection  to  the  conquered  inhabitants-;  and  third, 
property  taken  on  the  field  of  battle,  or  in  storming 
a  fortress  or  town."  Again  the  same  author  says  (Chap.  19, 
page  451) :  "The  evils  resulting  from  irregular  requisitions 
and  foraging  for  the  ordinary  supplies  of  an  army  are  so 
very  great  and  so  generally  admitted,  that  it  has  become  a 
recognized  maxim  of  war,  that  the  commanding  officer  who 
permits  indiscriminate  pillage,  and  allows  the  taking  of 
private  property  without  a  strict  accountability  *  *  * 
fails  in  his  duty  to  his  own  government,  and  violates  the 
usages  of  modern  warfare.  It  is  sometimes  alleged,  in 
excuse  for  such  conduct,  that  the  general  is  unable  to 
restrain  his  troops ;  but  in  the  eye  of  the  law  there  is  no 
excuse,  for  he  who  cannot  preserve  order  in  his  army,  has 
no  right  to  command  it." 

Once  more,  let  us  bring  this  general  to  the  test  of  the 
code  prepared  for  the  government  of  the  armies  of  the 
United  States  by  Frances  Lieber — 


17 

Section  20  reads  as  follows :  "  Private  property,  unless 
forfeited  by  crimes  or  "by  offenses  of  the  owner  against  the 
safety  of  the  army  or  the  dignity  of  the  United  States, 
and  after  due  conviction  of  the  owner  by  court  martial,  can 
be  seized  only  by  way  of  military  necessity  for  the  support 
or  other  benefit  of  the  army  or  of  the  United  States." 
Section  24  reads :  "  All  wanton  violence  committed  against 
persons  in  the  invaded  country ;  all  destruction  of  property 
not  commanded  by  the  authorized  officer ;  all  robbery ;  all 
pillage  or  sacking,  even  after  taking  a  place  by  main  force  ; 
all  rape,  wounding,  maiming  or  killing  of  such  inhabitants, 
are  prohibited  under  the  penalty  of  death,  or  such  other 
severe  punishment  as  may  seem  adecpiate  for  the  gravity  of 
the  offense."  Section  27  reads  as  follows  :  "  Crimes  punish- 
able by  all  penal  codes,  such  as  arson,  murder,  maiming, 
assaults,  highway  robbery,  theft,  burglary,  fraud,  forgery, 
and  rape,  if  committed  by  an  American  soldier  in  a  hostile 
country  against  its  inhabitants,  are  not  only  punishable  as 
at  home,  but  in  all  cases  in  which  death  is  not  inflicted, 
the  severer  punishment  shall  be  preferred,  because  the 
criminal  has,  as  far  as  in  him  lay,  prostituted  the  power 
conferred  on  a  man  of  arms,  and  prostrated  the  dignity  of 
the  United  States." 

One  more  short  quotation  from  this  code  prepared  by  Dr. 
Lieber  I  will  give,  not  so  much  for  its  authority  as  because 
it  is  so  eminently  ludicrous  in  the  light  of  the  way  in 
which  it  was  observed  by  Sherman's  bummers.  Listen — 
Section  40.  "  It  is  the  usage  in  European  armies  that 
money  and  all  valuables  on  the  person  of  a  prisoner,  such 
as  watches  or  jewelry,  as  well  as  extra  clothing  belong  to 
the  captor ;  but  it  distinguishes  the  army  of  the  United 
States  that  the  appropriation  of  such  articles  or  money  is 
considered  dishonorable,  and  not  suffered  by  the  officers.'' 
Ah! 

To  the  same  effect  are  all  the  great  writers  on  public  law 
for  more  than  two  centuries  back.  Wolsey,  Vattel,  Gro- 
tiers,  Puffendorf,  Poison,  Jomini  and  the  rest  of  them, 
almost  without  exception,     in  fact  every  one  of  any  note 


18 

condemns  in  unmistakable  terms  the  destruction  and  in- 
discriminate pillaging  of  private  property  of  unarmed 
people  in  a  time  of  war.  Even  the  followers  of  Mahomet, 
cruel  and  blood-thirsty  as  they  were,  recognized  to  its  full 
extent  the  justice  and  propriety  of  these  principles.  The 
Caliph,  Abubekr,  in  G34,  when  sending  forth  his  generals 
to  the  conquest  of  Syria,  gave  them  instructions  which 
General  Sherman  cannot  read  without  a  sense  of  shame. 
Abubekr,  an  old  man,  accompanied  the  army  on  foot  on  its 
first  day's  march,  and  when  the  blushing  leaders  attempted 
to  dismount,  says  the  historian,  the  Caliph  removed  their 
scruples  by  a  declaration  that  those  who  rode  and  those 
who  walked  in  the  service  of  religion  were  equally  meri- 
torious. "  Remember,"  said  the  successor  of  the  Prophet 
to  the  chiefs  of  the  Syrian  army,  "  that  you  are  always  in 
the  presence  of  God,  on  the  verge  of  death,  in  the  assur- 
ance of  judgment  and  the  hope  of  paradise.  Avoid  injus- 
tice and  oppression,  consult  with  your  brethren  and  study 
to  preserve  the  love  and  confidence  of  your  troops.  When 
you  fight  the  battles  of  the  Lord  acquit  yourselves  like 
men,  without  turning  your  backs,  but  let  not  your  victory 
be  stained  with  the  blood  of  women  or  children.  Destroy 
no  palm  trees  nor  burn  any  fields  of  corn.  Cut  down  no 
fruit  trees  nor  do  any  mischief  to  cattle,  only  such  as  you 
kill  to  eat.  When  you  make  any  covenant  or  article  stand 
to  it,  and  be  as  good  as  your  word.  As  you  go  on,  you  will 
find  some  religious  persons  who  live  retired  in  monasteries 
and  propose  to  themselves  to  serve  God  in  that  way,  let 
them  alone,  and  neither  kill  them  or  destroy  their  monas- 
teries.'' This  is  neither  a  bad  exposition  of  the  laws  of 
war  or  of  the  principles  of  Christianity. 

As  far  back  in  the  history  of  our  race  as  four  hundred 
years  B.  C.  the  great  Xenophon,  in  the  Cyropedia,  puts  in 
the  mouth  of  his  hero  Cyrus,  the  Prince  of  Persia,  an  order 
directing  that  his  army,  when  inarching  upon  the  enemy's 
borders,  should  not  disturb  the  cultivators  of  the  soil. 
Now  let  us  draw  the  contrast  in  the  conduct  of  General 
Sherman  and  the  Arab  chieftain  who  denied  Christianity 


19 

and  the  old  Greek  pagan  who  had  never  heard  of  Christ. 
Let  us  take  no  Southern  man's  testimony ;  there  are  plenty 
of  honest  and  truthful  soldiers  of  the  Union,  who  were  with 
the  Federal  army  and  served  in  its  ranks,  to  tell  all  we 
want  and  more.  This  is  what  one  of  them  says,  writing  of 
that  campaign  to  the  "Detroit  Free  Press :"  "One  of  the 
most  devilish  acts  of  Sherman's  campaign  was  the  destruc- 
tion of  Marietta.  *  *  *  The  Military  Institute  and  such 
mills  and  factories  as  might  be  a  benefit  to  Hood  could 
expect  the  torch,  but  Sherman  was  not  content  with  that ; 
the  torch  was  applied  to  everything,  even  to  the  shanties 
occupied  by  the  colored  people.  No  advance  warning  was 
given.  The  first  alarm  was  followed  by  the  crackling  of 
flames.  Soldiers  rode  from  house  to  house,  entered  without 
ceremony  and  kindled  fires  in  garrets  and  closets,  and  stood 
by  to  see  that  they  were  not  extinguished." 

Again  he  says  :  "  Had  one  been  able  to  climb  to  such  a 
height  at  Atlanta  as  to  enable  him  to  see  for  forty  miles 
around,  the  day  Sherman  marched  out,  he  would  have  been 
appalled  at  the  destruction.  Hundreds  of  houses  had  been 
burned,  every  rod  of  fence  destroyed,  nearly  every  fruit 
tree  cut  down,  and  the  face  of  the  country  so  changed  that 
one  born  in  that  section  could  scarcely  recognize  it.  The 
vindictiveness  of  war  would  have  trampled  the  very  earth 
out  of  sight  had  such  a  thing  been  possible." 

Again  he  says :  "At  the  very  opening  of  the  campaign  at 
Dalton  the  Federal  soldiery  had  received  encouragement  to 
become  vandals.  Not  one  private  soldier  out  of  every  forty 
turned  robber  and  incendiary,  but  there  were  enough  to 
cast  a  stigma  on  the  whole.  From  Dalton  to  Atlanta  every 
house  was  entered  a  dozen  times  over,  and  each  new  band 
of  foragers  robbed  it  of  something.  When  there  was  noth- 
ing in  the  shape  of  money,  provisions,  jewelry  or  clothing 
left  the  looters  destroyed  furniture,  abused  women  and 
children,  and  ended  by  setting  fire  to  the  house.  As  these 
parties  rode  back  to  camp  attired  in  dresses  and  bonnets 
and  exhibiting  the  trophies  of  their  raid,  and  nothing  was 
said  to  them,  others  were  encouraged  to  follow  suit.     The 


20 

treatment  of  colored  women  was  brutal  in  the  extreme,  and 
not  a  few  of  them  died  from  the  effects.  One  who  has  the 
nerve  to  sit  down  and  listen  to  what  they  can  tell  will  find 
his  respect  for  the  ignorant  and  savage  Indians  increased. 
But  these  were  preparatory  lessons.  When  Sherman  cut 
loose  from  Atlanta  everybody  had  license  to  throw  off 
restraint  and  make  Georgia  "  drain  the  bitter  cup."  "  The 
Federal  who  wants  to  learn  what  it  was  to  license  an  army 
to  become  vandals  should  mount  a  horse  at  Atlanta  and  fol- 
low Sherman's  route  for  fifty  miles.  He  can  hear  stories 
from  the  lips  of  women  that  would  make  him  ashamed  of 
the  flag  that  waved  over  him  as  he  went  into  battle.  When 
the  army  had  passed  nothing  was  left  but  a  trail  of  desola- 
tion and  despair.  No  house  escaped  robbery ;  no  woman 
escaped  insult ;  no  building  escaped  the  fire-brand  except 
by  some  strange  interposition.  War  may  license  an  army 
to  subsist  on  the  enemy,  but  civilized  warfare  stops  at  live 
stock,  forage  and  provisions ;  it  does  not  enter  the  houses 
of  the  sick  and  helpless  and  rob  women  of  finger-rings  and 
carry  off  their  clothing. 

Add  to  all  these  horrors  that  most  merciless  and  inhuman 
order  of  expatriation,  by  which  the  entire  population  of 
Atlanta,  of  all  ages,  sexes  and  conditions,  were  driven  forth 
to  the  fields  of  a  ''desolated  country,  or  shipped  off  to  the 
rear  like  cattle;  an  order  which  was  followed  by  the 
"deliberate  burning  of  Atlanta  "by  Sherman's  own  account. 
But  I  have  said  enough  about  these  horrors,  for  it  is  exceed- 
ingly unpleasant  to  speak  of  them.  Yet  they  must  be  told, 
if  for  nothing  else  than  to  excite  the  execration  of  humane 
people,  and  they  will  be  told  more  hereafter  than  ever 
before.  It  is  not  worth  while  to  cry  hush.  The  truth  is 
entitled  to  be  made  known. 

Let  us  resume.  We  left  the  operations  of  the 
military  with  General  Sherman  in  possession  of  what 
was  left  of  Fayetteville.  Hampton  and  Hardee  had 
crossed  the  Cape  Fear  and  destroyed  the  bridge.  The 
forces  available  to  meet  the  enemy,  according  to  General 
Johnston,  were  about  five  thousand  men  of  the  Army  of 


21 

Tennessee,  and  the  troops  In  the  department  of  North  and 
South  Carolina,  amounting  to  about  eleven  thousand 
more.  These  were  in  different  parts  of  the  country, 
and  were  not  concentrated  until  several  days  afterwards, 
owing  to  several  causes,  and  many  of  them  were  unarmed. 
A  few  days  before,  on  the  7th  of  March,  General  Bragg, 
commanding  the  troops  in  the  department  of  North  Caro- 
lina, with  Major  Generals  D.  H.  Hill  and  R.  F.  Hoke,  and  a 
remnant  of  Clayton's  division  of  the  Western  army, 
attacked  Major  General  Cox,  who  was  advancing  towards 
Goldsboro'  from  New  Berne  with  three  divisions.  The 
engagement  took  place  near  Kingston,  with  considerable 
success  on  the  Confederate  side.  The  enemy  was  driven 
back  three  miles,  with  a  loss  of  1,500  prisoners,  and  quite  a 
number  of  killed  and  wounded. 

On  the  next  day  the  Confederate  forces  fell  back  to  Golds- 
boro. General  Sherman  made  his  way  steadily  from 
Fayetteville  towards  Goldsboro,  where  he  was  to  make  a 
junction  with  General  Schofield.  The  cavalry  under  Generals 
Hampton  and  Butler  and  Wheeler  hung  around  his  flank 
and  front,  impeding  and  annoying  his  march  as  much  as 
possible.  A  sharp  engagement  took  place  at  Averasboro, 
and  a  still  more  considerable  one  at  Bentonsville,  in  which 
the  Confederates  were  again  successful,  against  overwhelm- 
ing numbers.  In  fact,  General  Joseph  E.  Johnston,  a  sharp 
observer  of  men  and  armies,  gives  it  as  his  opinion  that  the 
life  of  plunder  and  license  indulged  in  by  Sherman's  men 
had  already  worked  its  legitimate  results  upon  them,  and 
that  they  did  not  fight  with  near  the  efficiency  and  steadi- 
ness which  characterized  them  on  their  entrance  into  the 
State  of  Georgia.  This  affair  at  Bentonville  was  the  last 
considerable  engagement  of  the  war,  and  was  in  some  re- 
spects remarkable.  There  was  not  a  man  perhaps  of  the 
ten  or  twelve  thousand  men  on  the  Confederate  side  who 
was  not  perfectly  aware  that  the  war  was  over,  and  that 
his  fighting  was  hopeless;  yet  they  scarcely  ever  fought 
better,  maintaining  the  ground  all  day  long  against  twice 
their  numbers,   or  at  least  one-half  of  Sherman's  army. 


22 

Again  and  again  they  drove  them  back  over  several  miles, 
covering  the  ground  with  dead,  and  capturing  nine  hundred 
prisoners,  whilst  the  enemy  lost  in  killed  and  wounded 
about  4,000.  The  little  Confederate  force  only  fell  back 
towards  Smithfield  when  Sherman's  whole  army  came  up 
to  push  them  from  their  position.  Without  further  hostil- 
ities Sherman  arrived  in  Goldsboro  on  the  23d  of  March,  and 
effected  his  junction  with  Scofield.  Their  united  force  then 
exceeded  110,000  men.  At  Goldsboro  he  rested  his  troops, 
refitted  and  made  his  arrangements  for  the  final  operations. 

The  Confederate  forces  rested  likewise  near  Smithfield, 
half-way  between  Goldsboro  and  Raleigh,  repairing  their 
losses  and  preparing  as  well  as  the  exhausted  means  at 
hand  would  permit  for  the  last  struggle. 

On  the  10th  of  April,  General  Sherman  put  his  troops  in 
motion  towards  Raleigh,  and  as  soon  as  informed  thereof, 
General  Johnston's  troops  began  to  fall  back  slowly  before 
him.  1  was  then  Governor  of  the  State  of  North  Carolina. 
Being  aware  of  the  situation  from  daily  communication 
with  the  Confederate  Generals,  I  had  already  shipped  away 
westward  the  principal  military  stores  of  the  State,  to- 
gether with  the  most  necessary  archives  of  the  various 
departments.  About  the  10th  and  11th  of  April  painful 
rumors,  were  throughout  the  capital  in  confidential  circles 
of  the  surrender  of  General  Lee.  Animated  by  these 
reports  and  also  by  the  fact  that  the  Confederate  forces 
were  passing  through  and  rapidly  uncovering  the  capital  of 
the  State,  and  that  all  further  operations  were  really 
intended  to  secure  such  terms  as  were  possible,  I  consulted 
General  Johnston  as  to  what  it  was  best  for  me  to  do. 
With  the  frankness  of  a  soldier  and  a  man  of  common 
sense,  he  advised  me  to  make  the  best  terms  I  could  for 
the  protection  of  my  capital  and  people.  I  spoke  to  him 
about  the  propriety  of  sending  an  embassy  through  his 
lines  to  meet  General  Sherman.  Very  soon  thereafter  he 
went  west  to  meet  President  Davis  at  Greensboro,  leaving 
the  command  to  General  Hardee,  with  whom  I  likewise 
had  a  conference,  and  who  gave  me  the  permit  to  send  the 
embassy. 


23 

I  appointed  ex-Governor  Wm.  A.  Graham  and  ex-Gover- 
nor David  L.  Swain,  commissioners  to  visit  General  Sher- 
man, and  gave  to  them  a  letter  to  him  requesting  that  he 
would  grant  protection  to  the  Capital,  and  stating  that  these 
gentlemen  were  authorized  to  treat  with  him  for  that  pur- 
pose. A  copy  of  that  letter,  as  it  appears,  was  not  entered 
on  my  official  letter-book,  and  I  have  not  been  able  to  obtain 
it ;  but  that  was  its  purport,  to  save  the  Capital,  the  archives, 
etc.  Dr.  Edward  Warren,  surgeon-general  of  the  State,  Col. 
James  G.  Burr,  of  Wilmington,  au  officer  of  the  State 
Guards,  and  Major  John  De  vereaux,  of  my  staff,  accompanied 
the  commissioners  as  an  escort.  Leaving  Raleigh  in  a 
special  train  with  a  flag  of  truce,  they  passed  through  the 
rear  guard  of  the  Confederate  army,  commanded  by  General 
Hampton;  but  before  they  got  within  the  Federal  lines 
they  were  stopped  by  a  dispatch  from  General  Johnston, 
and  ordered  to  return  to  Raleigh.  This  order  was  deliv- 
ered by  General  Hampton  in  person,  and  obeying  it,  they 
reversed  the  engine  and  started  on  the  return.  But  mean- 
while, the  enemy's  troops  being  in  motion,  had  swept  by 
them  on  the  dirt  roads,  and  suddenly  they  found  them- 
selves halted  by  Kilpatrick's  cavalry,  and  made  prisoners. 
The  result  was  that  they  were  taken  to  Sherman's  head- 
quarters, the  place  to  which  they  had  started.  There  their 
errand  was  discharged,  and  the  promised  protection  given 
in  letters  directed  to  me,  and  orders  issued  to  his  com- 
mand. 

When  starting  from  Raleigh  it  was  supposed  they  would 
be  able  to  return  by  four  o'clock  at  the  latest.  It  was  ex- 
tremely important  that  they  should  return  at  that  time, 
for  the  city  of  Raleigh  was  to  be  completely  uncovered 
that  night  and  the  remaining  of  the  Governor  and  all 
State  officers  in  the  discharge  of  their  duties  depended  on 
the  reply  which  was  expected  from  General  Sherman.  Of 
course  they  could  not  remain  with  the  certain  assurance  of 
capture,  which  would  have  been  equivalent  to  the  suspen- 
sion of  all  the  functions  of  government;  bat  for  some 
reason  Sherman  saw  proper  to  detain  the  Commissioners 


24 

and  their  engine  until  next  morning.  He  had  been  in- 
formed of  the  countermanding  of  their  permit  and  no 
doubt  thought  that  he  obtained  some  advantage  by  detain- 
ing them  and  keeping  me  in  suspense.  No  doubt,  also,  as 
I  have  been  informed,  that  he  utilized  my  engine  by  mak- 
i  ng  it  ply  all  night  between  his  camp  and  Goldsboro.  Mean- 
time it  had  been  reported  to  me  that  the  Commissioners 
and  their  engine  had  been  captured,  and  I  had  ceased  to 
expect  their  return.  At  precisely  midnight,  accompanied 
by  two  volunteer  aids,  I  rode  upon  horseback  out  of  the 
city  of  Raleigh,  leaving  it  occupied  by  the  rear  guard  of 
Hampton's  Cavalry,  and  stopped  eight  miles  from  the  city 
in  the  camp  of  General  Hoke,  commanding  a  North  Caro- 
lina Division.  The  other  State  officers  had  x>reviously  re- 
tired to  Greensboro.  The  Commissioners  arrived  next 
morning  in  Raleigh,  took  possession  of  the  State  House  in 
my  absence,  and  made  all  arrangements  for  the  protection 
of  the  city  in  accordance  with  the  promise  of  Sherman. 
Soon  after,  one  of  them,  Governor  Graham,  undertook  to 
go  forward  towards  Hillsboro  and  deliver  to  me  the  letters 
and  orders  of  General  Sherman,  but  owing  to  the  difficulty 
of  getting  horses  and  to  the  fact  that  the  roads  were  swarm- 
ing with  Federal  and  Confederate  cavalry  engaged  in  con- 
stant skirmishing,  Governor  Graham  did  not  overtake  me 
until  Friday  evening  at  his  own  house  in  Hillsboro. 

With  an  account  of  the  result  of  his  mission,  Governor 
Graham  also  informed  me  of  the  official  intelligence  of 
Lee's  surrender,  and  put  in  my  hands  an  invitation  from 
Sherman  to  return  to  Raleigh,  which  I  declined  to  accept. 
I  had  whilst  at  Hillsboro'  received  an  urgent  despatch 
from  President  Davis,  asking  me  to  meet  him  in  Greens- 
boro'. This  I  desired  to  do,  as  well  as  to  confer  with 
General  Johnston,  who  was  there  also.  On  Saturday  morn- 
ing, therefore,  1  sat  out  on  horseback  from  Hillsboro'  to 
join  President  Davis.  On  arriving  at  Greensboro'  I  found 
that  he  and  the  members  of  the  Cabinet  with  him  had 
gone  on  to  Charlotte.  I  followed  on,  and  had  an  interview 
with  the  President  in  the  presence  of  Mr,  Reagan,  General 


25 

Breckeuridge,  and   one  or  more  members  of  his  cabinet 
beside.     I  told  him  I  bad  come  to  him  to  advise  with  him 
what  to  do,  and  to  learn  his  further  intentions.     The  con- 
versation was  long  and  solemn.     Mr.  Davis  appeared  still 
full  of  hope,  and  discussed  the  situation  exhaustively.     He 
told  me  of   the  possibility,   as  he  thought,  of   retreating 
beyond  the  Mississippi  with  large  sections  of  the  soldiers 
still  faithful  to  the  Confederate  cause,  and  resuming  opera- 
tions with  General   Kirby  Smith's  forces  as  a  nucleus  in 
those  distant  regions;  and  intimated  rather  than  expressed 
a  desire   that  I  should  accompany  him,  with  such  of  the 
North  Carolina  troops  as  I  might  be  able  to  influence  to 
that  end.     He  was  very  earnest,  and  displayed  a  remarkable 
knowledge  of  the  opinions  and  resources  of  the  people  of 
the  Confederacy,  as  well  as  a  most  dauntless  spirit.     After 
he  had  ceased  there  was  a  sad  silence  around  his  council 
board.     Perhaps  one  or  more  opinions  were  expressed  in 
support  of  Mr.  Davis's  views,  and  then  General  Brecken- 
ridge spoke.     I  shall  never  forget  either  the  language  or 
the  manner  of  that  splendid  Kentuckian.     With  the  utmost 
frankness,  and  with  the  courage  of  sincerity,  he  said  he 
did  not  think  they  were  dealing  candidly  with  Governor 
Vance ;  that  their  hopes  of  accomplishing  the  results  set 
forth  by  Mr.  Davis  were  so  remote  and  uncertain  that  he, 
for  his  part,  could   not   advise   me   to   forsake  the  great 
duties  which   devolved  upon  me   in  order  to  follow  the 
further  fortunes  of  the  retreating  Confederacy ;  that  his 
advice  would  be  that  I  should  return  to  my  position  and 
its  responsibilities,  do  the  best  I  could  for  my  people,  and 
share  their  fate,  whatever  it  might  be.     With  a  deep  sigh 
Mr.  Davis  replied  to  General  Breckinridge :     "  Well,  per- 
haps, General,  you  are  right."     I  remarked  that  General 
Breckinridge's  views  coincided  with  my  own  sense  of  duty, 
and  after  a   very  little   more    conversation   I   arose   and 
offered  my  hand  to  President  Davis  to  bid  him  good-bye. 
He   shook  it  long  and  warmly,  saying :     "  God  bless  you, 
sir,  and  the  noble  old  State  of  North   Carolina."     With 
feelings  which  I  am  not  able  to  describe  I  thus  bade  fare- 


26 

well  to  the  Southern  Confederacy  and  returned  to  Greens- 
boro','with  the  intention  of  going  to  Raleigh  and  resuming 
my  duties  as  governor,  if  permitted. 

On  the  evening  of  the  17th,  hearing  that  negotiations 
were  being  entered  into  between  Johnston  and  Sherman  for 
a  final  surrender,  I  left  Greensboro  to  accompany  General 
Breckiiibridge  and  Postmaster-General  Reagan  in  a  freight 
car  to  go  to  General  Hampton's  headquarters,  where  General 
Johnston  was.  Arriving  there  (a  few  miles  east  of  Hills- 
boro)  between  midnight  and  daybreak,  a  conference  was 
held  in  regard  to  the  proposed  meeting  with  Sherman.  I 
did  not  participate  in  that  conference,  but  next  morning 
about  sunrise  I  was  awakened  by  General  Breckinridge, 
who  took  me  out  of  the  house  and  informed  me  of  the  re- 
sult of  the  conference,  and  further  gave  me  confidentially 
the  startling  news  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  assassination,  which 
General  Johnston  had  the  night  before  received  confiden- 
tially from  General  Sherman.  By  both  sides  it  was  deemed 
of  the  highest  importance  that  this  information  should  be 
kept  secret  until  the  negotiations  were  terminated.  As  soon 
as  possible  thereafter  I  obtained  a  horse  and  rode  back  into 
Hillsboro  to  consult  with  Governor  Graham  on  the  alarm- 
ing aspects  of  the  situation.  That  evening  I  returned  again 
to  Greensboro,  and  the  following  morning  learned  of  the 
terms  which  were  given  by  General  Sherman  to  General 
Johnston  for  the  surrender  of  his  army.  As  is  known,  this 
agreement  was  disapproved  by  the  authorities  in  Washing- 
ton, and  a  very  different  one  was  finally  adopted.  The  first 
provided  not  only  for  the  surrender  and  security  of  the 
military  arm  of  the  Confederacy,  but  for  the  full  and  com- 
plete recognition  of  the  existing  autonomy  of  the  States, 
merely  requiring  that  the  various  State  officers  should 
attorn  to  the  government  of  the  United  States,  taking  the 
usual  oaths  of  office  to  support  the  Constitution,  &c.  The 
latter  provided  only  for  the  surrender  of  men  and  property 
of  the  Confederate  Army.  Because  I  have  been  severe  in 
my  denunciations  of  the  conduct  of  General  Sherman  and 
his  army  towards  unarmed  and  helpless  citizens,  I  have  no 


27 

disposition  to  refuse  him  justice  when  I  think  he  really 
merits  it.  In  my  opinion  one  of  the  wisest  and  most  far- 
seeing  measures  connected  with  the  war  was  this  first  con- 
vention offered  by  General  Sherman.  It  was  as  generous 
as  it  was  wise.  It  has  perhaps  never  been  rated  at  its  true 
value  by  people  either  North  or  South. 

To  show  its  high  statesmanlike  character  it  is  only  neces- 
sary to  say  that  had  it  been  ratified  at  "Washington  the  au- 
thorities of  every  State  in  the  late  Confederacy  would  have 
at  once  sworn  allegiance  to  the  constitution  of  the  United 
States,  the  courts  and  the  laws  of  the  Federal  Government 
would  have  immediately  resumed  their  sway,  and  the  do- 
minion of  the  Union  would  have  been,  complete  at  once  ; 
greatest  result  of  all,  there  would  have  been  no  such  thing 
as  reconstruction ;  no  such  thing  as  eleven  States  reduced 
to  military  districts,  with  all  civil  authority  overthrown 
and  the  bayonet  become  due  process  of  law.  There  would 
have  been  no  such  thing  as  eleven  blood-stained,  war-rid- 
den and  desolated  States  plundered  of  two  hundred  and 
sixty  millions  by  the  last  and  infinitely  worse  invasion 
of  the  army  of  carpet-baggers.  In  short,  when  I  say  that 
the  terms  offered  us  by  General  Sherman  would  have 
saved  the  South  the  horrors  of  reconstruction,  I  have  said 
all  that  human  eloquence  is  capable  of  saying ;  and  I  feel 
much  inclined  to  forgive  General  Sherman  the  horrors 
which  he  did  inflict  in  consideration  of  his  efforts  to 
avert  those  which  came  afterwards. 

Concluding  to  return  to  Raleigh  and  resume  my  duties 
as  Governor,  under  the  terms  of  the  first  convention,  I 
soon  learned  of  its  disapproval,  and  that  my  invitatien  had 
been  withdrawn.  At  length  the  second  and  final  conven- 
tion was  agreed  to,  and  on  General  Schofield's  arrival  in 
Greensboro,  to  receive  the  surrender  of  Johnston's  little 
army,  which  took  place  about  two  miles  west  of  the  town 
of  Durham  on  the  Hillsboro  road,  I  went  to  that  officer 
and  offered  to  surrender  myself.  He  declined  to  accept 
my  surrender,  but  told  me  I  was  at  liberty  to  go  home. 


28 

General  Johnston's  army  having  surrendered,  as  soon  as 
information  could  be  conveyed  to  the  detachments  of 
either  army  in  different  parts  of  the  State,  hostilities 
ceased,  and  the  war  between  the  States,  begun  more  than 
four  years  before,  came  to  an  end. 

Of  course,  the  limits  of  an  address  like  this  have  com- 
pelled me  to  take  but  a  brief  glance  at  many  things  of  suf- 
ficient importance  to  demand  more  detail.  Many  incidents 
of  interest  I  have  had  to  omit  altogether.  Of  the  scenes 
of  demoralization  of  both  armies  in  the  closing  hours  of  the 
confederacy's  existence,  it  pains  me  to  think  much  more 
to  speak.  The  stores  of  the  State  of  North  Carolina  were 
ruthlessly  plundered,  mostly,  I  grieve  to  say,  by  Southern 
soldiers ;  not  North  Carolinians.  Efforts  to  protect  them 
proved  utterly  unavailling,  without  a  considerable  flow  of 
blood,  and  that  I  was  unwilling  to  see  shed — deeming  the 
lives  of  brave  men,  though  demoralized  ones,  worth  more 
than  all  the  treasures  which  the  State  had  accumulated.  The 
extent  of  these  stores  is  perhaps  not  generally  known;  and 
yet,  a  knowledge  of  them,  as  well  as  of  the  number  of 
troops  she  sent  into  the  field  will  alone  enable  the  histor- 
ian to  do  justice  to  her  patriotism,  courage   and  resources. 

By  the  general  industry  and  thrift  of  our  people  and  by 
the  use  of  a  number  of  blockade-running  steamers  carrying 
out  cotton  and  bringing  in  supplies  from  Europe  I  had  col- 
lected and  distributed  from  time  to  time,  as  near  as  can  be 
gathered  from  the  records  of  the  Quarter-Master's  Depart- 
ment, the  following  stores:  Large  quantities  of  machinery 
supplies,  60,000  pairs  of  handcards,  10,000  grain  scythes,  200 
bbls.  blue  stone  for  the  wheat  growers,  leather  and  shoes  for 
250,000  pairs,  50,000  blankets,  gray  woolen  cloth  for  at  least 
250,000  suits  of  uniforms,  12,000  overcoats  (ready  made), 
2,000  best  Enfield  rifles,  (with  100  rounds  of  fixed  ammuni- 
tion), 100,000  pounds  bacon,  500  sacks  of  coffee  for  hospital 
use,  $50,000  worth  of  medicines  at  gold  prices,  large  quan- 
tities of  lubricating  oils,  beside  minor  supplies  of  various 
kinds  for  the  charitable  institutions  of  the  State.  Not 
only  was  the  supply  of  shoes,  blankets  and  clothing  more 


than  sufficient  for  the  supply  of  the  North  Carolina  troops, 
but  large  quantities  were  turned  over  to  the  Confederate 
Government  for  the  troops  of  other  States.  In  the  winter 
succeeding  the  battle  of  Chickainauga,  I  sent  to  General 
Longstreet's  corps  14,000  suits  of  clothing  complete.  At 
the  surrender  of  General  Johnston,  the  State  had  on  hand, 
ready  made  and  in  cloth,  92,000  suits  of  uniform,  with 
great  stores  of  blankets,  leather,  &c.  To  make  good  the 
warrants  on  which  these  purchases  had  been  made  abroad, 
the  State  purchased  and  had  on  hand  in  trust  for  the  hold- 
ers 11,000  bales  of  cotton  and  100,000  barrels  of  rosin.  The 
cotton  was  partly  destroyed  before  the  war  closed,  the  re- 
mainder, amounting  to  several  thousand  bales,  was  cap- 
tured after  peace  was  declared  by  certain  officers  of  the 
Federal  Army. 

In  addition  to  these  supplies  brought  in  from  abroad, 
immense  quantities  of  bacon,  beef,  flour  and  corn  were  fur- 
nished from  our  own  fields.  *  *  *  Any  one  acquainted 
with  the  valley  of  the  Eoanoke  and  the  black  alluvial 
lowlands  of  Eastern  North  Carolina,  will  recognize  what 
they  can  do  in  the  production  of  corn  when  actively  culti- 
vated. And  they  and  all  the  lands  of  this  State  were  ac- 
tively cultivated  for  the  production  of  food.  I  was  told 
by  General  Joseph  E.  Johnston  that  when  his  army  was 
surrendered,  he  had  in  the  depots  in  North  Carolina,  gath- 
ered in  the  State,  five  months'  supplies  for  sixty  thousand 
men,  and  that  for  many  many  months  previous,  General 
Lee's  army  had  been  almost  entirely  fed  from  North  Caro- 
lina. In  relation  to  the  number  of  troops  furnished  to  the 
Confederate  Government,  I  have  more  than  once  made  the 
boast  that  North  Carolina  furnished  not  relatively,  but  ab- 
solutely more  than  any  other  State.  This  assertion  has  not 
yet  been  denied  to  my  knowledge.  The  official  records  of 
the  Adjutant-General's  offie,  show  that  North  Carolina  fur- 
nished troops  as  follows: 


so 

As  Volunteers  at  outset 64,636 

Recruited  by   Volunteers   from   time   to 

time \ 21,608 

Recruited  by  Conscripts 18,585 

In  all,  Regular  Troops  from  N.  C 104,829 

Regular  Troops  in  the  State  Service 3,203 

Militia  on  Home  Duty 2,962 

Junior  Reserves,  Confederate  Service. . . .       4,217 

Senior  Reserves,  Confederate  Service. .  . .       5,686 

Troops  from  N.  C.  in  Regiments  in  other 

States 3,103 

Grand  Total  of  all  Grades 121,038 

These  were  organized  into  71  regiments,  20  battalions  and 
24  unattached  companies.  All  these  were  raised  out  of  a 
white  population,  in  1860,  of  629,942,  or  one  soldier  to  every 
six  souls !  At  Appomattox  and  at  Greensboro'  North  Caro- 
lina surrendered  twice  as  many  muskets  as  any  other  State. 
Her  dead  on  the  battle-fields  of  Virginia,  in  the  majority 
of  cases,  was  twice  as  great  as  those  from  any  other  State, 
and  in  more  than  one  of  Lee's  great  battles  they  exceeded 
the  dead  from  all  the  other  States  put  together. 

This  record  constitutes  a  proof  of  a  very  proud  distinc- 
tion, but  it  is  due  to  North  Carolina  as  sure  as  truth  is  truth. 
In  my  opinion  she  was  less  exhausted  when  the  end  came 
than  any  other  State,  and  she  had  the  means  and  vitality 
and  the  spirit  to  have  continued  the  struggle  two  years 
longer,  if  she  had  been  supported.  The  last  to  begin  the 
fight,  she  was  the  last  to  leave  it !  Let  not  these  things  be 
forgotten. 

A  great  many  incidents  might  be  told  of  those  days  that 
would  well  repay  the  telling — grave  and  gay,  pathetic  and 
ludicrous.  During  a  hurried  trip  from  Raleigh  to  Salis- 
bury a  few  months  before  the  close  of  the  war  we  were 
stopped  a  few  miles  beyond  Greensboro  by  an  engine  in 
the  ditch  in  the  centre  of  a  deep  cut.  The  weather  was 
wet  and  the  mud  off  the  cross-ties  was  deep.  I  and  the 
other  passengers  were  compelled  to  get  off  the  train  going 
west,  climb  the  bank  of  the  cut  and  walk  around  to  board 


31 

another  train  beyond  the  disabled  one  which  blocked  the 
way.  That  train  which  we  were  to  take  had  brought  down 
a  large  lot  of  Federal  prisoners  from  Salisbury.  In  trying 
to  ascend  the  bank  I  had  great  difficulty,  and  finally  halted 
near  the  top,  unable  to  proceed.  Suddenly  a  dirty,  emaci- 
ated Yankee  soldier  on  the  top  of  the  bank  above  me  laid 
down  and  extended  his  hand  to  my  assistance  with  a  polite, 
'•Allow  me,  sir,"  pulled  me  up  to  the  top.  I  thanked  him, 
and,  calling  to  my  servant,  gave  him  the  remnant  in  my 
lunch  basket  and  all  that  was  left  of  a  bottle  of  new  apple 
brandy,  that  sole  consoler  of  Southern  hopes  at  that  time. 

Half  starved  as  he  was,  he  gave  a  fair  shout  of  joy  and 
inquired  my  name,  which  I  gave  him.  Of  course,  I  never 
expected  to  hear  of  him  again — but  I  did.  It  proved  to  be 
both  bread  and  brandy  cast  upon  the  waters.  When  my 
native  town  of  xlshville  was  captured  about  the  very  time 
of  Johnston's  surrender,  that  same  boy  turned  up  in  the 
ranks  of  its  Federal  captors,  sought  out  my  widowed 
mother's  house,  which  was  in  the  suburbs  and  much  expos- 
ed, and  guarded  it  from  intrusion,  like  a  watch  dog,  sleep- 
ing in  the  porch  before  her  door. 

When  Johnston's  army  was  falling  back  through  Raleigh, 
a  battallion  of  junior  reserves  composed  of  seventeen  year 
old  boys  from  South  Carolina  passed  through.  Like  all 
others,  they  wanted  something  to  eat,  and  although  the 
army  had  more  provisions  than  it  could  remove  from 
Raleigh,  they  invaded  private  houses  everywhere,  clamor- 
ous for  food.  Two  delicate  looking  lads  walked  into  the 
door  of  the  executive  mansion  and  asked  to  be  served;  my 
family  had  gone  westward  and  there  was  no  one  in  the 
house  but  myself  and  two  servants,  and  they  were  broken 
down  with  cooking,  and  almost  everything  in  the  house  was 
exhausted  besides.  I  explained  all  this  to  them  and  with 
some  impatience  told  them  they  must  go  to  the  quarter- 
master, who  would  be  only  too  willing  to  furnish  them. 
With  a  charming  impudence  they  quickly  sat  down,  and 
looking  up  at  me,  one  of  them  said  :  "  Mister,  that's  the 
way  we  always  told  the  soldiers  at  our  house,  but  they 


32 


always  got  something  to  eat  before  they  left,  anyhow." 
That  boy  was  well  fed  before  lie  left ! 

After  receiving  General  Schofield's  permit  to  return  to  my 
home  I  gathered  together  all  my  remaining  personal  posses- 
sions in  the  world,  the  spoils  of  four  years  of  war,  including 
my  rights  in  the  territories,  consisting  of  a  saddle-horse,  a 
wagon  and  a  pair  of  old  mules,  and  shipped  them  in  a  freight 
car,  and  with  a  few  friends  took  passage  in  the  same  ele- 
gant conveyance  towards  the  mountains.  The  cars  and 
highways  were  alike  filled  with  the  disbanded  soldiers. 
At  every  depot  where  we  halted  more  crowded  in  and  upon 
the  trains.  It  was  with  the  greatest  difficulty  I  could 
keep  them  them  from  crowding  me  out  of  my  freight  box ; 
their  repeated  attempts  to  do  so  had  irritated  me  exceed- 
ingly. Finally,  at  one  stopping  place,  I  saw  a  boy  attempt- 
ing to  climb  through  a  hole  that  had  been  knocked  in  the 
side  of  the  car  to  admit  air.  I  stor.ned  at  him  to  get  back ; 
he  crawled  on ;  I  jerked  my  navy  repeater  out  of  its  holster 
and  threatened  to  shoot  him  if  he  didn't  go  back;  he 
crawled  on  and  dropped  on  the  floor  of  the  car  with  the 
utmost  unconcern,  and  quietly  said,  "  you  don't  look  like 
you'd  shoot !  "  My  friends  laughed,  my  anger  passed  and 
the  brave,  impudent  fellow  got  a  ride.  But  I  must  close.  I 
thank  you,  and  bid  you  all  good-bye. 


